More than 50 years have passed since “A Raisin in the Sun” debuted on Broadway and the drama about the American dream as seen through the eyes of a black family is still relevant.

“Absolutely, it's relevant because we still have racism in this country,” says actor/director Ron Bobb-Semple, who is directing the Stageworks Theatre production that opens tonight.

“There is still racial discrimination and tensions between white and black communities,” he says.

He adds that the play also is about the different dynamics and tensions within a family and all people can relate to that.

When Lorraine Hansberry's play opened on Broadway in 1959 it became the first play on Broadway written by a black woman and the first to have a black director. It also was the first play to draw black audiences to Broadway.

The title comes from a Langston Hughes poem that asks, “What happens to a dream deferred?”

“Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”

There are several deferred dreams in the play as the story follows various members of a black family living in poverty on Chicago's south side.

When the matriarch, Mama, is set to collect $10,000 from a life insurance policy, her grown son, Walter, wants to invest in a liquor store so he can achieve his dream of a decent income.

Mama's dream is to move into a better neighborhood, something her late husband wanted. More conflicts arise when a representative from that neighborhood offers the family money to stay out.

Hassenberry drew from a similar experience in her childhood. Her father, a successful Chicago realtor, defied covenants that barred blacks from renting or buying in white neighborhoods. He moved the family in the face of threats, violence and a court battle.

Now considered a classic, “Raisin” is studied in schools. A revival is planned for Broadway in 2014 with Denzel Washington and Diahann Carroll. Sidney Poitier starred in the 1961 film version.

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